I have collected quite a few antennas over the years. My girlfriend will tell you I have OCD when it comes to antennas. I am always on the lookout for antennas everywhere I go. Thrift stores, garage sales, swap meets, back alley's, ebay, etc. I am sure there are some are worse than me, but not many. Over the years I have collected quite a few Diamond Antennas and with that comes some fakes. This is not the end all be all for fake Diamond Antennas as my collection mainly consists of HT antennas. The makers of these replica Diamond Antennas are getting better all the time and have made many improvements over the years.
I often wonder how many fake Diamond Antennas are out there? How many reviews of fake Diamond antennas are on eham? I know there are quite a few. I spotted my first fake in my collection more than 10 years ago.
Fake SRH771. I should have known this one was a fake right away as it had RH771 printed on both the antenna and the packaging. Diamond uses the RH prefix for BNC connectors and SRH for SMA. The packaging had a "SMA Connector" sticker on it made from paper. To date, I have not seen a paper sticker used in advertising on a genuine Diamond Antenna. The printing on the antenna itself is going in the wrong direction. Later fakes have the printing going in the correct direction. Some fakes I have seen have letters that do not form words or speeling mistakes;-)
Here is a close up of the packaging. The Font is close but wrong. This looks similar to the font found on a few Nagoya Antenna's I have owned? The E has a triangle, and not a diamond that is found on the genuine Diamond products. The yellow plastic on the packaging is glossy, thin and lacks texture.
Fake SRH940. This is one of the latest replica I have come across and its a good one. Non-glossy paper AM sticker.
The Diamond font is still wrong but better. Triangle in the E. Thin glossy, non-textured yellow packaging.
This antenna looks perfect except for a high SWR on operating bands.
Note the replica antenna has the diamond in the E. If the packaging was thrown away, the only way you would be able to tell it was a fake is if you had an antenna analyzer. I wonder how many of these antennas Diamond has replaced thinking they were defective?
Close up of the logo on the SRH940 packaging.
Close up of a genuine RH770 Diamond Antenna packaging. Note the textured yellow plastic and the diamond in the E
Logo from genuine Diamond SRH519 packaging. Textured yellow plastic. Diamond in the E.
Its a start. I have many more photo of fake and genuine diamond antennas I will add when I have more time. Please add any additional info and photos you may have on genuine or fakes!
Thanks.
I often wonder how many fake Diamond Antennas are out there? How many reviews of fake Diamond antennas are on eham? I know there are quite a few. I spotted my first fake in my collection more than 10 years ago.
Fake SRH771. I should have known this one was a fake right away as it had RH771 printed on both the antenna and the packaging. Diamond uses the RH prefix for BNC connectors and SRH for SMA. The packaging had a "SMA Connector" sticker on it made from paper. To date, I have not seen a paper sticker used in advertising on a genuine Diamond Antenna. The printing on the antenna itself is going in the wrong direction. Later fakes have the printing going in the correct direction. Some fakes I have seen have letters that do not form words or speeling mistakes;-)
Here is a close up of the packaging. The Font is close but wrong. This looks similar to the font found on a few Nagoya Antenna's I have owned? The E has a triangle, and not a diamond that is found on the genuine Diamond products. The yellow plastic on the packaging is glossy, thin and lacks texture.
Fake SRH940. This is one of the latest replica I have come across and its a good one. Non-glossy paper AM sticker.
The Diamond font is still wrong but better. Triangle in the E. Thin glossy, non-textured yellow packaging.
This antenna looks perfect except for a high SWR on operating bands.
Note the replica antenna has the diamond in the E. If the packaging was thrown away, the only way you would be able to tell it was a fake is if you had an antenna analyzer. I wonder how many of these antennas Diamond has replaced thinking they were defective?
Close up of the logo on the SRH940 packaging.
Close up of a genuine RH770 Diamond Antenna packaging. Note the textured yellow plastic and the diamond in the E
Logo from genuine Diamond SRH519 packaging. Textured yellow plastic. Diamond in the E.
Its a start. I have many more photo of fake and genuine diamond antennas I will add when I have more time. Please add any additional info and photos you may have on genuine or fakes!
Thanks.
